Engineering Inc. - September/October 2004 - 13

 Passage of a water infrastructure bill has been a priority for this
committee for the past two Congresses. Now that we have a bipartisan bill
that gives local communities resources with no strings, it is time to go
beyond the committee, toward enactment. Senator James Inhofe tion is.
Unfortunately, we are ESA . Looking down the road, position, I also
recognize that a s e q u e n t l y, I would anticipate running out of time
this year. do your foresee efforts on the bill that fails to pass both the
having to fend off amendments If we can't get it done this year p a r t of
Congress to consider House and Senate will do noth- designed to be
tourniquets for because Congress needs to move reforms in these or other
regula- ing to help landowners. I would cutting off Corps projects rather
the appropriations bills and time tory areas? h o p e that we could
achieve t h a n bandages to mend the is so limited, I look forward to some
consensus in the commit- problems at the agency. INHOFE: Endangered species
and reintroducing it in January and tee this fall on a discrete set of
HOWARD: Another priority for w e t l a n d s are two land-use moving it
quickly through the amendments to the ESA. ACEC in 2004 is passage of the
statutes that frequently inflict process. We will need the stake- On the
issue of wetlands, the J O B S Act S. 1637 and H.R. costs, delays and red
tape dis- holder community to keep the d e c i s i o n by the Solid Waste
4520 . How important is this p ro p o r t i o n a t e to the environ-
pressure on and continue to tell A g e n c y of Northern Cook l e g i s l
a t i o n , and when do you m e n t a l benefits that they t h e public
and the Congress County SWANCC remains an believe conferees will complete
d e l i v e r. With respect to the how important this issue is. u n r e s
o l v e d question. While work on a conference report? endangered species
and wildlife, t h e re are some bills that have RAYMOND: The Water
Resources S e n a t o r Michael Crapo R- been introduced to deal with the
INHOFE: Architectural and engi- D e v e l o p m e n t Act WRDA I d a h o ,
as chairman of the question of isolated waters, the neering firms, along
with man- continues to be one of your leg- Wildlife Subcommittee, is tak-
ball really is in the administra- u f a c t u r i n g companies, have
islative priorities for the year and ing the lead on reforming the tion's
court to provide consistent been covered by the Extraterri- a key issue
for our members. Do E S A . Many believe that the g u i d e l i n e s and
regulations to t o r i a l Income Tax Exclusion y o u foresee any major
road- Endangered Species Act needs a ensure fair and uniform imple- E T I
program and its prede- b l o c k s when the full Senate massive overhaul.
And while I m e n t a t i o n of the Supreme Court's decision. cessors
since 1971. The JOBS takes up WRDA? m a y be sympathetic to that Act
repeals ETI and replaces it INHOFE: There are several hur- with a tax
deduction designed dles that WRDA may face on to offset the tax losses,
stimu- t h e floor. In addition to the l a t e economic expansion and
standard hurdle of competition promote job growth. Architec- for floor
time with other bills, tural and engineering services WRDA also will face
a politi- are the only sector that previ- cized legislative process due to
ously received ETI benefits but t h e election. In addition to a r e
excluded from the tax both of those hurdles, WRDA reductions in the new
bill. The also faces a policy-specific issue Senate approved an amendment
with respect to reform measures to the JOBS Act to make archi- f o r the
Corps of Engineers. tectural and engineering serv- Historically, WRDA
legislation ices firms eligible for the new h a s passed the floor by
voice production activity tax deduc- vote needing unanimous con- tion that
will replace the ETI s e n t . With the emergence of program. The amendment
was Corps reform as an independ- adopted by voice vote. ent issue, it is
unlikely that we The House may not appoint can obtain unanimous consent.
conferees to the JOBS Act until It is fairly certain that at least t h e
fall. I strongly support one senator who is an advocate enactment of the
legislation. o f reforming the Corps will RAYMOND: In working for their
believe that we have not gone clients in both the public and far enough.
private sectors, ACEC members While most Corps reform frequently encounter
problems a d v o c a t e s honestly want to associated with various federal
improve the functioning of that re g u l a t o r y regimes, including
agency, there are some who take federal wetlands regulations and the
attitude that a good Corps t h e Endangered Species Act project is no
Corps project. Con- S e p t e m b e r l October 2004 ENGINEERING INC. 1 3
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2004

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